Theodor Heuss

Theodor Heuss (31 January 1884-12 December 1963) was President of West Germany from 12 September 1949 to 12 September 1959, succeeding Karl Arnold and preceding Heinrich Luebke. He was a member of the Free Democratic Party.

Biography
Theodor Heuss was born in Brackenheim, Wurttemberg, German Empire in 1884, and he worked as a journalist for years. He was heavily influenced by the social and liberal ideas of Berlin university teacher Friedrich Namann, and he entered the left-liberal Free-minded Union in 1903 and the German Democratic Party in 1918, for whom he became an MP from 1924 to 1928 and from 1930 to 1933. From 1945 to 1949, he served as a member of the Wurttemberg state parliament as a Free Democratic Party member. He became the FDP leader in 1948, and he became the first President of West Germany a year later. He greatly influenced the writing of the West German Basic Law (constitution), and he worked passionately for the reconciliation of all sections of German society. His popularity healped greatly to reconcile many Germans to the new democratic system. He left office in 1959 and died in 1963.